Tree holder



Feb. 17, 1931. D'ANFORTH 1 1,792,968

TREE HOLDER Original Filed Oct. 2'7, 1925 Patented Feb. 17, 1931 UNITEDSTATES LOUIS I). DANFORTH, or LOS ANGELES, cALiFonnIA, assienoa rofiloslanenn n s LADDER COMPANY, or nos. ANGELES, xoanlronnra-aCORPORATION ,oF CALI- FORNIA.

TREE Ho e; 1

Application filed October 27, 1925, Seria1 N G 191 eeeeeaoc'tabe i0,192?. l

My invention is a tree holder adapted to support Christmas or otherornamental cut trees in a stand.

An object of my invention is to provide a 5 stand or holder suitable forsupporting a tree in upright position, theholderbeing formed of aplurality of blocks which are resiliently held together and thus bind onthe tree and form supporting feet extending laterally 0 from the tree,providing a wide base.

In my invention I utilize a plurality of triangular shaped blocks havinga hole through the blocks adjacent the right angular-shaped end and Ithread a strong coil spring through the holes: the blocks forming feetcan thus be spread to allow insertion of the trunk or stem of the treeagainst the upright sides of the blocks and the spring clamps themtightly in position.

For transportation or storage the blocks may be moved around the springso that they abut face to'face, thus forming a compact bundle.

My invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription and drawings, in which; 7

Figure 1 is a perspective View of my tree holder with a tree supportedin position.

. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the clamping blocks 3 or feet showing asection on, the line 22 of Fig. 3, indicating the springs and the1nanner of threading through the blocks.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of Fig. 2, taken in the direction of the arrow 3.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the feet or blocks placed together inabutting relation and being held by the spring.

Fig. 5 is an elevation similar to Fig. 3,

illustrating the use of a plurality of springs 40 to give additionaltension. In the drawings, the feet or blocks are indicated by thenumeral 1, and comprise a base Qadapted to fit on the floor, an upperedge 3 and an upright right angular edge 4 forming a ri ht angle withthe floor edge 2. Each of the locks has an opening or perforation 5adjacent the upright edge 4 and through these openings, a stout coilspring 6 is threaded, the

- hooks 7 at the ends of the spring being closed, thus forming acontinuous coil spring.

The holder as abovedescribed is utilizdlin the following manner: The"holderwillfbe placed on the floor inthepositionsshown in F igs. 2 and'3,"with the iipright: orvertical edgeslt of opposite blocks br'feetabutting and with the vertical edges of the other pair of blocks bearingagainst the side faces 8 of the opposite pair of blocks or feet. .lVhenit is desired to support a tree, the feet are drawn apart sufficientlyto allow the insertion of the trunk or stem of the tree, the lower endof which has preferably been squared before'its insertion. When it isdesired to store the 1 holder, the blocks are folded down into abuttingrelation with the faces 8 in contact as shown in'Fig. 4 and the spring 6should be sufficiently tight to hold the blocks in this folded orcompacted position.

In Fig. 5 I show an additional spring 9 similar to the spring 6 which isthreaded through openings 10 in the upper portion of the feet, henceutilizing two springs which may be of different sizes and thus givedifferent tension.

Other changes in my design of tree holder 15 may be made for the purposeof holding trees or it may be considerably changed to be utilized withother articles and such changes will be within the scope of myinvention.

lVhilc the device is especially intended as a Christmas treeholder, itwill be understood that it will be suitable for holding any otherstructures having a trunk or pole and the term tree in the claims isintended to include such articles. 1 3.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A tree holder comprising in combination a plurality of blocks formingfeet, said blocks having a lower edge adapted to rest on a floor, avertical edge at right angles thereto and another edge connecting thefloor and the upright edges, the said blocks having a plurality ofopenings of difierent sizes with springs of different sizes threadedthrough such openings and adjacent the upright edge, said springs beingtensioned to draw the upright edges of said blocks together when theyare placed crosswise to support a treebetween g the upright edges.

2. A tree holder comprising in combination, a plurality of feet, thebottom surface of the inner ends, as Well as the outer ends of which arefiat and adapted to rest upon a floor, and spring means connecting saidfeet to each other, urging the feet inwardly to- Ward each other so thatWhen a tree trunk is placed between the inner ends of the feet it may beclamped between the feet and held thereby in upright position.

3. A tree holder comprising a plurality of radially extending feet, saidfeet having at their inner ends faces of appreciable length adapted tocontact the surface of a tree trunk, and spring means constituting thesole means for connecting said feet together and urging the feet intoclamping position upon a tree trunk.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

LOUIS D. DANFORTH.

